First moments

If you look close at these pictures...  you can see it all on my face.

You can see months of worry.

You can see fear.

You can see worry.

Most of all you can see RELIEF.  Relief that she was finally in my arms.

and maybe, most of all, you can see the love.

We were quite blessed, Steve and I.  It isn't this way for everyone.  But for us... it was LOVE at Very. First.Sight.

And you can see it in these picture.

Maybe not in Grace's face.

That took a few months.

But in mine.  and Steve's.

There really will never, can never, be any words that can describe that moment.

Those moments.  Those first minutes.  Hours.  Days.

2nd Gotcha Anniversary!

It's been 2 year years since that amazing day in China when we became a family of six.

Here is a a little never before seen video of Gotcha Day.   

Grace was stone silent.  And she really stayed like that way for a good 7 days or more.

Trust me when I say she is NOT stone silent anymore!

She was so stinkin' sick.  fever.  terrible cough.  and who knows what else.  So sick.

(long bus ride home... she fell asleep and was BURNING UP with fever)

I remember reading and talking to people before we left... so many parents get their children in their arms and the first thing they want to do is rip off their clothes, give them a bath and put on new clothes.

But, that's pretty much the worst thing you can do.  Just think about it... would you want your clothes ripped off by complete strangers moments after meeting them?

I knew we weren't going to make that mistake!

Ummmm.  Yeah.  Wrong I was.

As soon as we got back to our hotel room (After the LONGEST bus ride back to the hotel) we ripped off Grace's clothes so fast! Layer after layer came off.

She was SO HOT!  She must have had a fever of a 104 at the time with 5 layers of clothes on.

Oh well.  Nothing like a making things even more traumatic for her.  But, we had to do it.

So here's a picture of then and now.

She continues to amaze us every.single.day.   And we will NEVER stop thanking God for blessing us with her.  We are so undeserving of these four children in our lives.  Each of them so very special in their very own way.

Thankful.

Click here if you want to watch the First Anniversary Gotcha Day video from last year.

And click here if you want to read about Gotcha Day.

Memory Lane Day 1

I'm going to try to tell some stories about our trip from two years ago that I never wrote about before.    Some may be silly.  Some more serious.   Honestly, as the time passes, memories fad... and I just want to make sure somehow I have documented as much as I possibly can remember.

Let's see how it goes.

I'm a total control freak.  When we travel places... I really like  need to be in charge of things.

I had a bit of a dilemma this trip.   In our carry-on bags were two very important things.

A laptop... our way of communicating with everyone back home while we were away.... The blog....Skype.  It was very important to me.

And all of the important documents we needed to finalize the adoption.    Obviously also very important!

Putting both in the same backpack was not an option... to heavy.  Which meant I had to put the laptop in one backpack and the documents in the other.

Which meant, I couldn't carry both.  I had to trust my husband with one of these bags.

But which?

I literally lost sleep over this.  Not kidding.

and I KNOW you all think I'm nuts.  Steve is wonderful.  He would never lose one of these important items.  I know this.  But... I just couldn't let it go.

In the end....

I carried the documents.  He carried the laptop.  It never mattered... OF COURSE he didn't lose anything.

So there you have it.  I'm not sure Steve has ever heard that story... or realized I obsessed that much.  Hope he isn't offended.  :)

Total jetlag... trying to eat dinner the first night in China.  I literally think I fell asleep while eating.

Starbucks.  oh yes.  Starbucks.  and... while food was super cheap in China.  A Starbucks coffee was not.  Which means one coffee = same price as dinner.    It was worth it.

Here is the post from our first 1/2 day in China - two years ago.

Grace-ism #1

I should write these down as they happen or I will never remember.

So, here it is...

Grace-ism #1.

When Grace isn't a little upset with someone she will say "I not happy with you".

When she is REALLY upset with EVERYONE and just generally being a big ole grump she says....

"I NOT HAPPY WITH NOBODY!"

Trip down memory lane... wanna come?

Today marks two years since Steve and I boarded that plane at the Newark airport and took off on a journey that was JUST THE BEGINNING of a the journey of a lifetime.

I'm not talking about just the trip to China.  Sure, that was a journey of lifetime.  But, really those two weeks were just the very beginning.

Two years.

Two years ago we met this little girl in the Newark airport and her Mom.

Who knew these two would become such important people in our lives.  Lara, you are such a blessing to me... one I never expected, but God sure blessed me that day in the Newark airport when I heard you say "SOPHIE"!  

and... we boarded that LONG flight, where they served burritos in the middle of the night, or was it the day?  and I was stuck in the middle seat, next a guy that slept the WHOLE time, and I could barely move.  and it was not fun.

I think I am going to try to write about these memories over the next two weeks... how I remember them now... and how they shaped where we are today.

Wanna come along?